


Shadows on the Sand

by Greensilver (Trelkez)



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies), Jurassic Park III (2001)
Genre: M/M, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-25
Updated: 2007-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-02 17:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trelkez/pseuds/Greensilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alan had positioned himself directly between Billy and the others, like Billy required a particularly crotchety human shield.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows on the Sand

**Author's Note:**

> For zoemargaret in Yuletide 2007.

A bird of prey drifted lazily across the sky, casting a straight, steady shadow on the desert floor. Billy had a pretty good eye for _all_ kinds of raptors, these days, and he could tell without looking up that the bird circling his dig was an eagle; the smooth glide and perfectly straight line of the wings were hard to miss.

He tilted his head back and squinted up, tracking the eagle as it swooped across the sun. Hard to tell, at this distance, but he liked it for a golden; they were fairly common in Montana, and it looked a little small for a baldie.

His memory filled in the relevant details: large talons, hooked bill. Goldens were small-game hunters, mostly, but they could take down animals as large as sheep or deer, and they usually hunted in pairs. If one was circling, another would be close by.

He scanned the horizon, looking for the second hunter.

Something landed on his shoulder, something that curved inward, like talons--

"--Some room," Alan said, holding out an arm to keep a wide-eyed cluster of volunteers and grad students at bay. His other arm was flat against Billy's chest, twisted around to clutch a fistful of Billy's shirt. Alan had positioned himself directly between Billy and the others, like Billy required a particularly crotchety human shield.

One of the grad students - the name surfaced after a moment's struggle: Suarez, a PhD candidate from a university in Florida, nice guy - had a hand pressed to the side of his face, and the narrow stretches of skin visible through his fingers were a bright, angry red.

Billy was on his feet, and his tightly clenched fists were empty. He'd been flat on the ground, holding a brush; he'd been watching that bird soar overhead, and then ... and then....

There wasn't any _and then_.

He wavered slightly, grabbing Alan's arm to keep steady.

Alan didn't turn to look at Billy when he said, quietly: "Dr. Brennan?"

"I--" Billy took an unbalanced step back. "Alan?"

Alan's grip on Billy's shirt tightened for a moment, then relaxed. "Keep working," he told the students, stabbing a finger at the raptor Billy had been working on. When Alan turned around, Billy realized that the right side of Alan's face was almost as red as Suarez's; maybe the two of them had gotten into a fight. Billy couldn't imagine what it would take to get Alan angry enough to strike anyone, much less a grad student on their dig, but--

"Let's go," Alan said, and hung back, clearly waiting for Billy to go first.

Alan was two steps behind Billy the whole way to the trailer, their shadows leading the way: Billy's canted and halting, Alan's straight and certain.  
_________________________________

  
"Put your head between your legs," Alan suggested. The trailer was small enough that even on the opposite side of the counter that divided the kitchenette in two, Alan was in arm's reach - but he just watched, his expression carefully controlled. "Deep breaths."

Billy couldn't breathe, much less breathe _deeply_, but he nodded slowly and sank down onto the floor, pressing his forehead to his right knee. In. Out. In. Out. He knew how to do that. Ellie had taught him basic Lamaze breathing exercises once, but he wouldn't be caught dead doing those in front of Alan; slow and steady would have to do.

He hadn't had a panic attack in months. He hadn't even had a panic attack that morning, reading the news; he'd thought to himself, _oh, crap_, and then he'd gone to work. That was all there'd been to it, just a momentary lurch in his equilibrium, quickly overcome; nothing more, nothing less.

He heard the fridge door open, and the soft clink of Alan digging into the bag of ice. Billy half-expected Alan to appear with a glass of water, but he didn't; maybe the ice was for his face. Billy had gotten a better look at it inside the trailer, and it looked like someone had gotten in a fast, hard shot.

Given how sore Billy's knuckles were, he was starting to think that person had been _him_.

"I'm sorry," he said, hating how shaken he sounded. "I'm sorry, Alan."

Alan was silent for a moment. Billy inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, a little more evenly each time; those were the only sounds in the room.

"When I got back from Isla Nublar," Alan said, and stopped. The ice clinked again.

Alan's dust-coated legs came into view. He touched the back of Billy's head, his cool, callused fingers slipping through Billy's hair to brush against the back of his neck, and then he was gone, the trailer door swinging shut behind him.

Billy squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered, the movement rolling down his spine and out to his limbs until he was shaking all over, uncontrollably.

He wondered just what it was Alan had been about to say about Jurassic Park. He had a feeling he knew; Alan practically revered velociraptors in their theoretical, fossilized forms, but the real thing scared him shitless. Billy had seen it, on the island - and off; he'd seen how Alan's hands shook when people blew through the resonating chamber.

But Alan had never hit anyone for it.

He didn't want to think about that. He would never hit Alan, _never_. There were times when they clashed, when Billy shouted and Alan seethed, but they'd never come to blows, not even close. Most of those fights ended with Alan hauling him in for a kiss, by way of apology; Alan never let angry words sit, not since the island.

That godforsaken island.

Few things scared Billy as much as thought of that place, but the way his hand still ached came pretty damned close.  
_________________________________

  
A bird of prey drifted lazily across the sky, its angled shadow undulating across the desert floor.

Billy dropped his brush, jerking upright. A high-pitched cry split the air, and another answered it, closer still; there was another one somewhere, hidden from view. They were hunting as a team.

The shadow was getting larger, spreading across Billy's exposed raptor skeleton, and the monster that cast it was close enough that Billy could feel uneven beats of air against his skin as the thing flapped its wings.

He took off at a dead run, trying to make it to the trailer. If he could get inside - if he could just get to shelter--

Alan's voice chased after him: "Billy, stop!"

That didn't make any sense; he had to get to the trailer, surely Alan knew--

"Billy, _stop!_"

He was only a few seconds away now, almost there--

"_Don't, Billy!_"

The trailer door swung open a split-second before he got to it, and something stepped out of the shadows, something that moved on all fours.

The pterosaur called out to its partner in the sky, the sound ear-splitting from close up. Billy spun around to run again, to flee, but the other pterosaur had already landed; there was one on either side of him, and they were both closing in.

The one in front of him dropped its lower jaw, giving it the appearance of a sharp-toothed smile.

"_Billy!_"  
_________________________________

  
"Billy?"

He awoke with a jolt, his head snapping upright so quickly that he whacked it against the side of the kitchen counter. He must've fallen asleep on the floor; judging by the dim quality of the light, he'd been out for several hours.

Alan was standing in the doorway, visible only in profile against the wan glow of dusk. When he closed the door, the trailer went dark, rendering him nearly invisible.

Alan paused on the threshold, maybe to let his eyes adjust, and then he crouched down next to Billy, easing himself onto the floor. He pressed against Billy from shoulder to knee, and Billy wanted to lean into him, just that, nothing more - but he couldn't make himself relax, not even that much.

"Mr. Suarez caught me up on the headlines," Alan said, sounding a little too controlled.

Billy exhaled, the breath shuddering through him. "First confirmed pterosaur sighting in the country."

"You should've told me." Alan shifted slightly, his arm sliding up a few inches and then back down again, like he wanted to hug Billy, but had thought better of it. "Billy--"

"I think I've identified them," Billy interrupted.

Alan was silent a moment, and then he sighed, the sound a little too loud in the empty trailer. "Oh?"

"Ludodactylus." He was breathing faster, just talking about it, but he forced himself to keep going. "InGen's primary amber mine was in the Dominican Republic, and the ludo was found in Brazil, so the geography is roughly correct. And the fossil--" He tried not to picture it, but he must've shivered anyway, because Alan lightly touched his knee. "It looks just like the guys on Isla Sorna. Teeth, crest, and all."

"Billy," Alan said again, softer.

Billy shook his head. "I should write a paper."

Alan shifted again, and this time, he didn't check himself; he slid an arm around Billy's shoulders and tugged, pulling Billy into the curve of his shoulder, making Billy lean against him. Billy could feel the tension ebbing out of him slowly; his body unwound one muscle at a time, until he could almost rest comfortably against Alan's side.

"Go back to sleep," Alan said, the words as soothing as any Billy had ever heard from him.

"I'd really rather not." Billy leaned his head back against Alan's arm, closing his eyes. "Can we just sit for a minute?"

Alan's arm tightened around him. "We can do that."

Billy breathed deep, trying not to think about shadows on the sand, or the sound of talons clacking on metal. Inhale, exhale, repeat; he could do that. Nothing to it.


End file.
